diff --git a/Basic/@gds_element/layer.m b/Basic/@gds_element/layer.m
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7796cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Basic/@gds_element/layer.m
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+function [lay, dtype] = layer(gelm)
+%function [lay, dtype] = layer(gelm)
+%
+% returns layer and data type properties of an element
+% (this method is faster than field indexing)
+%
+% gelm :   a gds_element object
+% lay :    layer property
+% dtype :  (Optional) data type property
+
+    if isref(gelm.data.internal)
+        error('gds_element: element has no layer/datatype property.');
+    end
+
+    lay = get_element_data(gelm.data.internal, 'layer');
+    
+    if nargout > 1
+        dtype = get_element_data(gelm.data.internal, 'dtype');
+    end
+
+end
diff --git a/Basic/@gds_element/xy.m b/Basic/@gds_element/xy.m
index a3f18b2..120a594 100644
--- a/Basic/@gds_element/xy.m
+++ b/Basic/@gds_element/xy.m
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 % pos :    a cell array containing one or more nx2 matrices 
 %          with reference positions
 
-    if ~isfield(gelm.data, 'xy');
+    if ~isfield(gelm.data, 'xy')
         error('gds_element.xy :  element has no position data.');
     end
 
diff --git a/Basic/gdsii_version.m b/Basic/gdsii_version.m
index 6d8c0e2..36e5eca 100644
--- a/Basic/gdsii_version.m
+++ b/Basic/gdsii_version.m
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
 %
 
     % toolbox version and version date
-    tb_version = '137';
-    tb_date = '2016-November-05';
+    tb_version = '138';
+    tb_date = '2016-November-06';
     ltb_ver = [tb_version, '  (', tb_date, ')'];
     if exist('OCTAVE_VERSION')
         interpreter = 'Octave';
diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 3b5bac3..b71bbc8 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+- new 'layer' method for gds_element objects to query layer/data type, which
+  is faster than field indexing.
+
 2016-November-05
 - version 137
 - return [] in 'get_element_data' if an element does not have a requested